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Abstract
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Safety 2010 World Injury Conference, London, Abstract:: Background Information Little is known about immigrant children's lifestyles and the uptake of strategies to prevent unintentional injuries. Being an immigrant to Canada can be a risk factor for a child's health because of the cultural differences in the uptake of healthy activities between their country of origin and North America.
Objectives To determine the barriers and enablers related to injury prevention strategies such as car seats, bicycle helmet use and participation in formal or informal physical activities.
Study Participants Twenty parents from two language groups; Bengali and Spanish, who arrived in Canada within the past 2 years, participated in this study. Participants were recruited with the help of immigrant and settlement organisations.
Data Analysis The focus groups were each 2 h and were transcribed and translated into English. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis, which explores emerging themes from interview or focus group data.
Result Parents expressed a need for more immigrant friendly injury prevention information. Such information has to be linguistically correct and culturally appropriate for the specific immigrant group. Inadequate information regarding injury prevention and a sense of feeling blamed when their child got hurt were important themes for both groups.
Conclusion Immigrant parents want to follow Canadian guidelines for injury prevention, but often do not understand the Canadian cultural context. Healthcare professionals should provide important information programs designed specifically for this growing immigrant population. |